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 Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:32 am
Ny had left Ra for a little while, wouldn't be for too long she loved to be with him, to play to mess about and to be free. The pridelands were still strange to her. The grass under her paws felt so differently to the sands of the desert or the hard rough ground of the graveyard.
The white lioness moved swiftly, or at least as swiftly as she could. She couldn't get use to the grass and it had made hunting hard however this short trip without Ra was to show that she could still train herself. Something that had never left her since she left the desert, training. Her mother and father had never trained her, she had done it herself with Ra and it had worked well. She left with his family and now they were to wander together.
She gave up. Finding somewhere to lay down that was sheletered and mostly hidden she started to wash at her sore paws, cursing these lands and their hidden evils. She knew there was something wrong with this silly pride.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:49 am
The Pridelands had aways been a favorite of the strange trio--or, of two of its members, anyway. The klipspringer and cheetah were absolutely infatuated by the endless stretches of tall green grasses. It was a veritable smorgasbord of sweet greens for the klip, and the grasses meant easy hunting for the normally ungainly cheetah. But the third of the party, despite all of her time away from the desert, traveling endlessly across terrains of all sorts, the grasslands still made her uncomfortable.
She had hung back at a lazy pace while the others bounded on ahead to enjoy the greenery. There was no need to rush, for what she could see; the cheetah was bound to catch something quickly, and she would have a share in whatever that something was. Two small creatures hid more easily than a group of three, and she was not quite so conspicuous walking alone. There were lions in the area, she knew from experience, and she anted to make it fully know that she was not so weak as to spare a cheetah and klip for friendship. But she kept within hearing distance of the pair, just in case some other lion was not so kind as she.
There was a smell of one even now, carried towards her by a faint breeze. The lioness was instantly on the alert, ears pricked and listening for the faintest hint of the intruder--or that the intruder was attacking her companions. But all that reached her was the steady lap of a tongue. A bath, she surmised, no threat. Nonetheless, she remained on her guard as she crept through the tall grass towards the sound, relaxing a touch as she crested the grass to view the younger lioness. "It is unwise to greet a stranger with a sign of weakness, you would do well to remember."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:59 am
Ny's head shot up as the other spoke, she hadn't been half as alert as she normally would.
"Then again its better to stay hidden from those who would rather see you dead." She didn't think that a pridelander had the guts to kill but yet she was a firekin and she knew and had learnt that they were indeed dispised.
She let herself look at the adult in front of her before standing in front of her. She noticed the colouring and it seemed somewhat familiar, her cousins and uncle carried the same colours.
"A desert lioness?" She asked the question not willing to give any information about herself yet.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:14 am
A brow rose at the inquiry. This looked to be an interesting meeting indeed. She could afford a brief stop. She would just walk a touch faster to catch up with her companions afterwards.
After stepping to the open patch of ground, Kwana sunk down on her haunches, smiling briefly. "Once upon a time. As, I take it, were you," she drawled, smile fading to a much colder expression. "Though, by your words, you have no right to claim the line."
Her tail lashed, and she rose to her feet once more, lip curling as she took another few steps towards the other lioness. "Firekin do not hide away when faced with an enemy. Regardless of the odds, they will work through intimidation, giving the effect that they are capable of defending themselves against such numbers and have no reason to fear--and in doing so, unnerving the opponent enough that he does no risk an attack. Do not be a coward if you would claim my blood."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:26 am
Ny admired this lioness quickly, she was what they needed back at the desert, however she wasn't there and nor was Ny.
"It is true, a Firekin would not hide but then I never did say exactly if I was indeed hiding. After all there would be no fight here, they eat, they sleep and they breed. It seems they do nothing else and they care very little with whom passes over these lands." She paused, to move a little showing the mark on her side that was almost identical to her fathers.
"If a fight came I would fight though if it were avoidable right now I would prefer not to. I doubt somehow my companion would be overly happy with me getting in a fight without him." She spoke calmly though she held herself proud.
"I recognize your colours. They are shared with those of my cousins and uncle. Though maybe I am wrong, as I would see no reason for a royal to have left the lands unless they have no claim to the blood either." Ny was careful with her words, not wishing to insult but at the same time hoping to anger the lioness a little. She was almost certain that the lioness in front of her was her aunt or relation in some way the colours were so close to Kimeti's and then the child that Kavu prouduced as well.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:44 am
"Mn, I have noticed the same," Kwana replied slowly, disregarding the first words and calming slightly. "A fight shall come to them, but not yet. Not yet." Or perhaps never, if Kimeti continued to have his way. PItiful, that such a fat, lazy bunch of inferiors could no longer fall to the will of the Firekin. Her dear brother had done so well with his pride. But change was on the wind, and her turn was approaching...
Her careful jab irked Kwana, but was recognized for what it was. It did, however, provoke a scowl, though Kwana decided to humor the younger lioness. She had nothing to lose, after all, and perhaps she could win herself a follower of the blood if she proceeded carefully. "Leave? To bide my time, perhaps. My claim to the blood is as true as that of any of my siblings--moreso than any, in fact, including the uplifted Kimeti. My throne was stolen from beneath me, and it is only a matter of time until I retake it. Firekin retreat only to watch for a precise opportunity."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:58 am
"You are my aunt then however you seem to have stronger beliefs then my mother, she is far too caring and worries too much. Her and father both." She was happy to be related to the lioness in front of her and also somewhat proud that her predicion was correct.
"If you can take the throne. You do know your brother has his own children? His own heir?" Ny had never met them or maybe she had, she knew of them though.
"So aunt. What is your name?" They were family and if the lioness didn't tell her, when her and Ra got home she would ask someone. Her father or mother were bound to tell her.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:17 pm
Aunt? The title visibly startled Kwana, so that her scowl vanished completely. Was she so old? She certainly didn't feel old! And she liked to think she didn't look it. She had been kept well fit by her travels and the trail of hunting alone. She was easily in better condition than she had ever been living in the desert. And here this lioness appeared nearly her own age! Surely she was not so old... Perhaps the child was mistaken.
But the marking on Ny's flank niggled at her memory... She had seen it before, a good while back, on-- "Teleka," she breathed, torn between amusement and disgust. "Kijinga. Ha haaa, such a sorry pair. I pity you your parents," she snickered, dissolving into laughter at the thought. "Your dear daddy," she began, stuttering through her laughter, "was the cause of my exile, did you know? Do bring new of my return to him. He would do well to run before he can be executed."
In much higher spirits now, she hardly batted an eye at the news of Kimeti's heir, still giggling over the idea of Teleka fathering anything with half a mind. "I have no children of my own. I will use Kimeti's son against him, as my mother used him against me. And you can tell him as much," she instructed, smirking. "Tell him Kwana is coming to regain her throne."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:27 pm
Ny kept her temper. She wasn't keen on her parents but she was even less keen on anyone other then her saying anything bad about them.
"My father does what he can to do what is right now. He and mother live far from the pride but still in its grounds and, as you were no queen and I doubt you ever will be, you would have no right killing him either. He is your family now as I am whether you like it or not." She narrowed her eyes a little, holding any snarls that wished to appear back.
"You are assuming that I am returning home the way you speak. That would be a joint choice between me and my friend, so I cannot say if I will even have the chance to pass on your message and that is if I wished to." Ny was being a little harsh now, or would have been if it wasn't for the fact that Ra wouldn't be happy with her if she got in a fight.
"You won't know what you return to Kwana. The Firekin of the stories we are taught are no more and I doubt somehow they will ever be. The pride is ruined, the new generation is wiser then that of the older. You won't rule Kwana. You are too old now." That was for insulting her parents. Though it made sense to Ny, if she was an adolescent then so were her cousins, they were all born about the same time.
If Kwana went back, she would have to fight her neices and nephews to rule unless she did use the heir, either way that would still be him ruling and now Kwana.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:45 pm
"Ohohooo, the high and mighty cublet has lost her temper." The outburst had little to no effect in angering Kwana. Quite the contrary, she seemed amused by Ny's defense of her parents, family, and pride. However, her laughter did cease, replaced by the smug smirk of a housecat about to crush a mouse.
"Do you honestly believe, dear neice," she began, hissing the word as if it offended her, "that I have any love or loyalty to my family after all of this time? After they stole my throne, betrayed me, and sent me away? I could kill any of them with absolutely no regrets. Should I find him, your father will fall, and, if you do not watch your tongue, so will you."
"I assume nothing of the sort," she continued after a beat, assuming a look of bored indifference. "Merely invite you to share your knowledge should you happen upon them before I do, rather than hide it away in the recesses of your mind and have them killed in their sleep. The Firekin are dimished, but not gone. The fools who've muffled their potential shall fall, and they shall arise stronger than before. If this 'new generation' is as wise as you say, they shall see the wisdom in my ways and aid me with my task. And you would do well to do the same."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:56 pm
Ny chuckled. "You act so powerful but yet you are nothing more then a coward who wises to be a murderer." Ny had respected this lioness and in a way still did though the thought of murdering a pride did amuse her somewhat.
"You wish to happily kill you family but yet its your family you wish to use to get at your family. You make no sense. If your family did not exist then the Firekin would be no more. That will happen anyway. You can only inbreed for a certain amount of time untill you all flop dead." Ny yawned. She was getting bored.
Ny was starting to become a little amused.
"Kwana, your old. Your neices and nephews are all nearly adults. If you dont act quickly... Your brother wont be king anymore and his son would be. Would you attack the family that had nothing to do with you being betrayed or exiled? I suppose you dont care for them either." Ny smirked finding this all really quite amusing as she doubted that Kwana would carry out her threats though Ny slightly hoped she would so she could call Ra.
"If there are any wisdom in your ways know aunt. As I said, you are old, you have been gone a long time and new ideas and thoughts arise. My cousin who I believe to be the heir has been in the graveyard recently, the scent was around and easy to find, however I did not see him. The old Firekin will never be, they are dead." That was Nys final word on it. All her cousins who she had bothered to talk to cared little for the goddess and the ways of the pride and most wished to leave and wander before returning.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:17 pm
Kwana was quickly tiring of the conversation. More and more she was seeing the 'Teleka' in this child, and it was frustrating her. She had hoped the girl would be more intelligent than her father. Apparently she was not. "Do you not listen?" She rolled his eyes, shaking her head in mock dismay at the young lioness's cluelessness. "I have no wish to kill my family--save perhaps for my brother and your father--, but should the need arise, it will bring me no pain to kill them. Open your ears, cub."
And she laughed, eyes glinting dangerously like shards of ice. "You vision is horribly skewed, my dear. My mother ruled at still older an age than I shall take the throne, and before her my grandfather, who's magnificent rule fell only with the coming of the plague. I am old, you say? To your perspective, where most of those older than I perished in the plague or fled to avoid it. To mine, I am still in the prime of my life, well capable of ruling, and quite determined to do so. Do not underestimate me, cublet."
"And do not," she continued dryly, narrowing her eyes, "presume you know of my beliefs and plans. Do not classify me with my siblings. Do not forget that I have traveled far and seen much. Firekin is a title that was once feared and revered, and soon shall be once again. The beliefs beneath that title, in my eyes, are free to change."
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:33 pm
Ny didn't say anything for quite a while letting all Kwana's words seep into her.
"You are of course right I know nothing of what you plan. I fear you under estimate the power that is there now. Maybe you can go back and help things change but I do not believe you will rule." That was Ny's final words on the whole subject.
"If I return to see my parents I will tell your brother your message." She would also warn her parents but not give the same message.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:39 pm
And she had won. Kwana hid her smirk, instead offering a smile to her so-called neice. "My dear, I have long since learned the folly of underestimating an opponent. But thank you for your concern. I shall keep it in mind. See to it that the receive my message," she finished after a beat, then, nodding a goodbye, started off through the grass after the cheetah and klipspringer. They had much to discuss.
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:44 pm
Ny didn't say anything else but just nodded as her aunt turned to leave. Once Kwana was out of sight Ny turned to find Ra, this would be something that could tell him, an odd story that was for sure but it would definatly be interesting to see what he thought about what she had just learnt.
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